Walks in Derbyshire by train
MapA day hike in the countryside is just a simple train journey away — explore the most charmingly located railway stations in Derbyshire and plan your next day of green.
Derby Circular via Allestree Park
Parks, river and heritage trail.
Museum of Making (30m in)
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
6 lunch spots: Darley Park (1h15 in) — Darley Park Terrace Cafe, the Little Darley in the Park, the Abbey Inn, or the Darleys; plus the Joiners Arms (3h in), or the Orangery Café (4h in)
4 end-of-walk rewards: the Alexandra Hotel, the Brunswick, the Victoria Inn, or the Waterfall
Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.
Similar walk: North Staffordshire Community Rail Partnership.
Duffield Circular via the Chevin
7 minutes direct from Derby.
Undulating countryside with several steep climbs.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Several steep climbs.
Walk details: Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Similar walk: Visit Amber Valley (PDF).
Belper Circular via Kilburn
15 minutes direct from Derby.
Hilly countryside with several steep climbs. Alport Heights — a 314 m peak five miles away — is visible from the route on clear days. Route passes Holbrook.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Several steep climbs.
Walk details: Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Similar walk: Visit Amber Valley (PDF).
Ambergate Circular via Pentrich
15 minutes direct from Derby.
Mixture of hilly and flat terrain with stiles along the way. Telling the story of the Pentrich Rising of 1817, exploring the local men who took part. Route passes through Fritchley and South Wingfield.
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Derwent Valley Line Community Rail Partnership (local insights).
Cromford Circular via Lea Bridge
30 minutes direct from Derby.
Historic cotton mill, former railway track to High Peak Junction, canal towpath, deer park, bluebell woodland in Lea Wood, riverside fields and crossing of the River Derwent.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Visit Amber Valley (PDF).
Similar walk: East Midlands Railway.
Matlock Circular via Nine Ladies Stone Circle
30 minutes direct from Derby.
Nine Ladies is a Bronze Age stone circle constructed between 3300-900 BCE; legend associates stones with women punished for Sunday dancing.
Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Grindleford Circular via Surprise View
45 minutes from Derby, with one change.
Quite possibly the best views in the whole of the Hope Valley. Ancient mixed woodland with rocky brook and footbridges, open moorland and gritstone edge. Detailed route map, photographs and route preview video available.
Hilly: a quarter on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Woodland: a third under tree cover.
Time: 3h30 (2h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Let's Go Peak District (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Hathersage Circular via Stanage Edge
45 minutes from Derby, with one change.
Green valley, gritstone escarpment edge, open moorland plateaus, ancient hill fort, narrow wooded gorge with tumbling waterfalls and quiet river pastures.
Time: 7h (5h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Can be muddy.
Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Hope Circular via Hope Cross
1 hour from Derby, with one change.
The most magnificent views of the Hope Valley, the Edale Valley and even into the Derwent Valley. Hill trails over moorland and an old Roman road. Detailed route map, photographs and route preview video available.
Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Walk details: Let's Go Peak District (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Edale Circular via Mam Tor
1 hour from Derby, with one change.
Some of the most spectacular views in the Peak District. Footpaths, farm trails, gritstone ridge, hill trails and country lanes. Detailed route map, photographs and route preview video available.
Hilly: a third on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Kinder, Edale and the High Peak (National Trust)
Time: 5h (3h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Challenging in places.
Walk details: Let's Go Peak District (tips, photos, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).
Bamford to Grindleford
1 hour from Derby, with one change.
Spectacular gritstone Stanage Edge. Gritstone edges including Stanage Edge and Burbage Edge, moorland, woodland and riverside paths. Gritstone edges carved by ice age glaciers; historically used for millstone quarrying. Pride and Prejudice film location.
Hilly: three fifths on high ground, rising above the surrounding land.
Time: 6h30 (5h walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Hard terrain; rocky gritstone boulders to traverse.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
New Mills to Chapel-en-le-Frith
1 hour 15 minutes from Derby, with one change.
Beautiful Peak District fringe landscape. Valley floor walk with canal towpath and former tramway trail. Historic route tracing pioneering industrial transport infrastructure through Peak District foothills.
Waterway: three quarters along the Peak Forest Canal.
Time: 4h (2h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)
Warnings: Busy road sections; rough ground with old concrete and limestone blocks.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).